Independence enterprise., February 07, 1919, Page PAGE TWO, Image 2

EIGHT PAO
, THE INDEPENDENCE ENTERPRISE, INDEPENDENCE, OREGON.
PAGE TWO
GAS MEN PLAY A BIG
PART IN WINNING WAR
Ten Thousand Soldiers Toil
Turning Out Shells to Rout
Germans.
at
MANY ARE INJURED AT WORK
Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland Won
Place of Leadership Over Allies In
Scientific Progress and Dead
liness of Output Gas Fac
tory City in Itself.
Baltimore, Md. While the men who
hnve been working in shipyards and
tntmition plants have received just
praise for their fulfillment of patriotic
duty, there is nn army of men 10.000
Ptnni.tr who have worked faithfully,
carefully screened Xrom public notice,
performing some of the most impor
tant work of the war, work which was
largely responsible for the early sign
ing of the armistice, who have re
ceived no recognition nt nil.
Pay after day they have secretly
worked in the manufacture of the poi
sonous gases which routed the Huns
and impressed upon the Germans the
ingenuity and resourcefulness of the
American brain. ,
These men of the Edgewood arsenal
stayed on American soil, never had the
'excitement of an ocean voyage or ad
venture in a foreign country or the
benvworship of those who have been
overseas, and yet while staying right
In this country they ran greater risks
than many of the men on the firing
line.
300 at One Time in Hospital.
The hospital nt Edgewood Is now
occupied by 300 men who have been
passed or burned while about their
country's work. There have been as
treat heroes at Edgewood as on the
battlefield. There is In the hospital
a blue-eyed hoy in early manhood,
smiling bravely through scars which
are today ns vivid as the first day,
months ago, when they brought him,
a writhing bit of humanity, to the
hospital. Xor is he the only one. There
are others, some of whom have been
gassed twice and thrice and are today
Invalided, in Colorado, having devel
oped tuberculosis.
Hundreds of others are maimed and
will always bear the marks of their
sacrifice for Uncle Sam, which they
pave so gladly without any of the
glory, stripes, promotion or encourage
ment given to the men in the camps
nnd trenches.
The signing of the armistice has
made it possible for the public to have
the first insight into the vast work
which has been accomplished at the
Edgewood arsenal, where has been
manufactured and shipped safely
"over there" more gas than has been
mane ry tnginmi ana trance com-
bined. Far removed from prying eyes. I
these thousands of men have produced j
gases which will go down in history I
ns nmong the greatest achievements of
the war.
Gas Factory a City in Itself.
Where on October 24, HUT. stood a
bare waste of forest, now stands what
is a small manufacturing town and a
city in its activities. Great chemical
plants have risen with lightning rapid
ity. There are the chlorine, phosgene,
chloral in and mustard gas plants, and
then down near the water the large
tilling plant where the big shells were
tilled with deadly poisons and sent on
their errand of .freeing humanity.
Edgewood arsenal covers a tract of
R00 acres, adjoining Its companion
linit, the great Aberdeen proving
grounds, where the biggest of the big
pim were tried out that were de
signed to smash the strongest of Ger
man fortifications. At the arsenal
these results, it was confidently pre
dicted, would be more effectively se
cured, and certainly at fiualier hu
man cost, by the gas products which
it wns confidently declared would
smother the Met forts.
Upon those 300 acres have been con
structed ft large number of Immense
chemical plants with the necessary ad
juncts, nil on nn extensive scale, con
nected by 35 miles of railway, oper
ated by United States army crews,
woeking three shifts a day. At first
it was attempted to run the arsenal
with civilian labor, but the hazardous
character of the employment made this
class of employee so uncertain, al
though fancy wages were offered, that
It became necessary to use enlisted
men exclusively throughout the plunt.
The result has been that work 'of
a highly specialized nature and extra
hazardous has been done by men re
ceiving from ?H0 a month up. and un
dor rigorous military discipline.
The research laboratory work of the
arsenal has been highly fruitful and
the gases of the Germans are said to
be mild in comparison with the more
terrible products of Edgewood, of
which the Germans had only got a
foretaste when the armistice was
signed.
"Came to Teach, Remain to Learn."
Two experts, Colonel Auld and Cap
tain llanknr, one sent from England
nnd the other from France, to aid in
the establishment of toxic gas plants,
said on leaving: "We came to teach,
but we remain to learn."
The Central Construction corpora
tion received a contract In October,
mil, lor the construction or a gas
shell filling plant at Edgewood. under
the Immediate supervision of Capt.
(now Lieut. Col.) Edwin M. Chance,
then connected with the ordnance de
partment. It soon became quite evident that
more than one gas shell filling unit
would be required. It was nlso ap
parent that experimental work neces
sarily had to be carried on In connec
tion with construction on n somewhat
elaborate scale In the first unit, both
of which circumstances caused the
pressure on the entire situation to be
rapidly increased, hence the contract
or's organization, ns well as the mili
tary personnel, began to increase rap
Idly early in the present year, until nt
the height of its operation the con
struction corporation had approximate
ly 6,000 men In its employ ; new camp
buildings' and mess halls were con
structed nt top speed.
When we saved salt last winter we
helped swell the amount needed for
the making of chlorine, of which it
is the foundation. This plant produced
HXI tons of chlorine nnd 112 tons of
fused caustic soda a day, making one
of the largest single plants of its kind
Silk Stockings Banished
in Kansas Gymnasium.
Lawrence, Kan. Silk stock
ings are a thing of the past In
the women's gymnasium of Kan
sas here, the ban having been
one of the first rules placed by
the authorities recently. Here
after all girls In the gym classes
must wear cotton stockings. The
new rule Is made In the Interest
of uniformity, economy nnd democracy.
con-The
ltorsn jmrty of business men wore
allowed through the plant last week
and they saw one of the commonest of
table supplies, salt, being made Into
one of the most fatal poisons. This
chloric gas passes from 3.rui2 electro
lytic cells, is dried by sulphuric ncld
and pumped to the chemical plants.
Dry chloric gas Is bubbled into the
common sulphur in tanks nnd becomes
a basic raw material In the production
of mustard gas, which was one of the
deadliest weapons used to win the
war.
Then there Is the phosgene plant.
Here coke Is received by rail nnd
burned by a common steam boiler.
Pure oxygen, obtained from liquid air
and carbon dioxide, are passed togeth
er through red-hot coke producing car
bon monoxide. Dry chlorine gas nnd
carbon monoxide lire suitably mixed,
and by passing over n catalyzer,
verted" to form gaseous phosgene.
liquid phosgene Is filled Into one-ton
containers for overseas shipment and
was the gas most largely used in the
war.
Chlorpgorin, one of the commonest
war gases is another prdmiet of Edge
wood and was produced at the rate of
30 tons a day.
Filing plants are another Important
feature of the arsenal. Here shells
nre received by rail and inspected.
Phosgene, chlorpgorin nnd mustsd pas
are received from the cht niictd plant.
Other war gases are obtained from
outside plants by rail. The capacity
of these plants is more than lS.'.tXW
containers a day. The ventilation is
such that men In direct contact with
the liquid gas are not required to wear
masks. The filled shells are returned
from filling machines nnd are classi
fied bv weight and stored, one day us a
test for leakage. They are then paint
ed gray and striped, the numbers and
colors of the stripes indicating the na
ture of the gas within the shell. Here
the drums, whose range is approxi
mately 1.700 yards, are tilled with the:
fatal gases. The grenades are tilled i
by hand with stannic chloride ami arc
used especially in clearing dugouts.
Others are hllud with white phosphor
us nnd nre used In the oroililt'tion of
1 ri.in I
M I s. A.- 1 I f
F. J I VM V. v. VVPW- ..
'; o v $ " v
I - . ' f - - - X
WHERE ROOSEVELT SLEEPS HIS LAST SLEEP
tw-HWars f i i
mmm m
'f W f
1 1
V!'
ill J .t j - 4x M
'Vi ::;. I
'jNorwaoa 9. wNBtoo ....
V'.' : ."v " v : tl.'tjlJ."--S' - -- - - - -
This Is Young's .Memorial cetm-tery nt Oyster Hay, N. Y wh. ic Hie body of
after Mmpte services. Inset Is a portrait of Itev. Dr. George V.. Talimolye. pu.itur
conducted the ceremony.
. f '
- ,. -.. , ..
- I: ,
h
I hi'odore ltooevelt was Int.
of i'hi'M I'.'pUcopal i li'ii. li (
tor
WIPING OUT ALL
TRACES OF WAR
SYMPATHETIC TWINS
V SICK AT SAME TIM
Thrifty French Already Cleaning
Up Battle Ground to
Plant Grain.
TASK MOST DIFFICULT ONE
Removing of Barbed Wire Entanjle
menti Is No Easy Matter Nar
row Gauge Railways Being
Torn Up and Trenches
Filled In.
smoke screens in connection with the
in the country. For the first time vis- I concealment of troops.
M'NULTYS' DEEDS WIN
THEM LASTING FAME
Washington. What's in the name
McXulty?
The encyclopedia is silent concern
ing Its origin, but two marines of thnt
name, who probably did not even know
one another, had lives that were near
ly parallel to one another, and both
distinguished themselves as heroes on
the battlefields of Trance. Which is
indicative that the same fighting blood
courses in the veins of these MeNultys
from an ancestry that was doubtlessly
Irish.
Their names were nearly alike
Thomas John McXulty and John Mc
Xulty. They were both in the be
ginning of their forties they were
both in the marine corps they were
both first sergeants :ind both had
seen 19 years of service under the
Stars and Stripes. Moreover, both
fnu-lit in, the same battles in France
and both were seriously wounded.
And the climactic result of this strange
PRESIDENT WILSON AND MME. POINCARE
r 4 z-
h
' f ' s " -' v " ' t . " ' "
i., v xtr,
I s v - "v , f n ..
.... . -f x
parallel wns that both distinguished
themselves ns heroes almost nt the
same time. John was awarded .the
distinguished service cross and Thom
as was cited for distinguished service.
But here the parallel ceases and
things begin to take opposites. Thom
as John enlisted in San Francisco, and
it was at the other side of the conti
nent Norfolk, Va. that John enlist
ed. Thomas John was born In Amer
ica and John In England. Thomas
John was first sergeant of the Sixty
sixth company of marines and John
was the first sergeant of the Seventy
seventh company.
It was in the marines' great fight
nt BHllenii Wood that First Sergt.
Thomas John McXulty won his fame
and subsequent citation. He led his
company of men in a daring charge
across a field of poppies against P.el
leau Wood, whence German machine
guns poured death into their midst.
His grim shouts of encouragement
cheered them on to victory until his
voice was silenced by lead nnd ho fell j
seriously wounded amid the Moss. .ms. !
I'ut his was a hardihood that could !
not die hy any sudden means. Vpon !
las recovery he joined a replacement
battalion and was in the heat ff sub-1
vnuent battles up to the time the j
armistice went Into effect. He has n i
father. Patrick McXulty, living nt Xo. '
1013 Bonnet street. Scran ton, Pa.
Extraordinary Heroism.
First Sergt. John McXulty was
awarded his cross for extraordinary
heroism in the fighting between Rlanc
Mont and Saint Etienne. Under a
heavy artillery and machine-gun fire
that rolled forward with n German
counter-attack he stuck by his machine
gun. Every man of his ?un crew was
shot down beside him, but he stuck.
Shot after shot burrowed its way into
his vitals, but still he stuck to his nm-
hine gun witha tenacity that could
only he broken with death nnd a re
gird that he did not have for his life.
It was at a moment when It seemed
that his iron power of will was soon
to have no living body to direct that j
the German attack was beaten off, and
First Sergeant McXulty laid his head !
on the ground exhausted. Even thn !
I'urls. Eradication oMdl truces of
the 52 months' war has nirendy begun
everywhere along the old stationiiry
front which marked the line of the op
posing nrinios since the Inception of a
war of po-ltion.
Harbed wire entanglements are be
ing; torn up, trenches nre being filled
In, camouflage Is being ttiken down,
narrow-gauge railways, removed, nnd
sholl dumps nnd other depots for ma
terial being transported away.
This is the first time that liny field
fortifications have been permitted to
be touched hy the civilian iwipulatlori.
Even after the Germans had been
driven from the Chateau Thierry re
gion south of the Mnme to north of
the Vesle, the military nuthoritles re
fused to permit barbed wire to be
taken up or earthworks filled In.
In most cases this work Is being
done by civilians, but everywhere with
the release of the older classes of
French soldiers nnd the numerous re
formes wounded discharged from the
army there are enough men familiar
with field works to supervise the re
moval of them.
Difficult Work.
It Is no easy matter for the novice
to pull up barbed wire, and in places,
particularly in the .Tuvlgny region
north of the Aisne. where the Thirty
second division fought with General
Mangin's superb Tenth army and won
for themselves the sobriquet of "The
Tigers," the entanglements cover hun
dreds of acres; the belts being hun-
dreds of yards pi ueptii. This wire ;
dates bnck from September, Hl-l, find !
Is rusty and dangerous to handle,
owing to the presence of tetanus nd- ;
crobes. The newer "giant German j
wire," the strands of which nre a ,
quarter of s,n Inch thick and which,
bristle with barbs, is eiU:i!ly hard to '
remove.
The old wide trenches which were '
in vogue earlier in the war before the ;
development of the miiicnwerfer as nn 1
nc-curute piece of ordiiaiice, are hard '
to fill in. as their j ar;, pets have been '
washed away hy rains and blasted to 1
bits of shell tire. XI.. -y are like great '
ditches, furrowing the earth in every '
direction. The newer. narrower ,
trenches, shared with timber fend pro
vided with duckboard floors nre easier
to 11 in. The thrifty French first pull
out the sharing :,Ld let the rain act
on the trenches f.-r a couple of weeks '
In which time they icva.-iaMy fall in.
then they shove: over the top, smooth- ,
inc it c!T. '
No attempts are made to fin in the
dugouts, the entrances merely Loin- ',
boarded up and cov.j-e.j f,T J)
many of these G-rni&n dugouts there
are Infernal niach'Les and mt-.a traps
likely to explode -.vf.cn the first per
son enters. Loose hoards th .
string stretched across the
-t off exr losives. Tn n,o.
are corpses 0;'
5 Dndertrrout.rt .,.-
. v
the roads. They tell the ullent tilc
of bodies of troops on the march spied
out by enemy iilrphtiies or captive bal
loons nnd caught under ii,mcen!rated
lire by many batteries. Then the tnen
ore ordered to take envur. and since
there Is none to take they must lm
provlse their own shelter.
It Is a remarkable sight to see hw
fast a soldier can dig n cuc thnt w ill
shelter his body with no implements
but a bayomt arid mess kit. They
loosen the earth with the bayonet and
scoop it out with the big. lung handled
tin cup, sometimes working; with the
skillet In the other hand.
Only light, lie.auvlile railways ure
being taken up, all standard gauge
lines which have been laid since the
war remaining In position until Midi
time as the udialni Mratloti determines
what shall he done with them.
Few pieces of artillery remain In
their empl; meats, nearly till of those
which were overlooked In capture dur
ing attacks having been drugged out
Norwny, Me,-r IJenry nnd P.
jamlli lloMiner of thU town j
A twins. It lilt been Ihelr el"'
"J erne through life that wli
, sickness overtake one the oil
JJ U Stricken too. ISeCetltlv '
l Jamlli, who Is u Mohlb-r III I
!! army overseas, wn taken tn
't' base hospital wufferlag from i
X attack of .Spntilwh lalluei;
J Here nt home nt the same li'l
J Henry was also down wish sj;
X iiilhienzn. I
. i";
j Ol lUCir M(1 IMIU M(M ell HI WO'
Mpiare of the nearest French ur
village. 1" tit there are null hut
of thousands of live tdielN, :
Kreimdcs and millions of lout,
small arms niaaiuiiltloii Ivinit
ever) where. The earth Is putts
lodes made by "dutls" whli h me
ploile the first time the farmer's
strikes ugaliiHt them. '
I'esplte that, however, the I
From h lire denning up their re,
preparing Tor the sou lnv of t ro.
spring.
ONLY RICH DRIN
Main Woodsmen
$5 for
Now
Pint
Whiky.
Have
of
to Pay
l'.angor, Me. War. which used up "
much alcohol uinl starved the distil
leries, and the bone-dry law ulTecting
the shipment of lienors from wet Into
dry territory, have made anything like
warm sociability, let alone hilarity,
Impossible In Maine to any save the
wealthy.
In the olden days n wuoinan or n
sailor went into a Hangar bar (and at
WINS SERVICE CROSS
jOno time there were sl. In.;
! seven varieties to choose from1
down a dime nnd took a drink :
could easily . Identified a, wlil"!
Hut now n drink of whisky Is i '
with l'.lnt k Hand secrecy, nad & j
wink ami whisper of cuutlon In'!
dugout up tin alley, or inn) be tui
n dark hallway from the dirty
n bootlegger, nnd costs 'St to -Jo
while a half pint costs ?'J to $. ,
pint $1 to nnd u quart ?) I
according to quality, time mid
There seems to be plenty of j
or near whisky, here ami el-mvli i
Maine,' but the high cost of dt
has driven common folks out ( ,
market. :
or bits of
entrance s
oilier dugouts thei
friends or foes, kill
bombs hurled down the exits
All roads in the zone
'., V- -"'.'
' f V. - s
'Am r
''1
4 1
if " I
i J
iw- vrrrj
'COUNT' ADMITS 'GOOD LC
Declares Widow Who Charges J
Theft Made Love to j
Him. ' 1
New York. Louis Albert hy, !
as "Count" Csnkl Hela. oi trial;
ludge Mubueeii in general sV
charged wlih the larceny of
from Mrs. Anna Gri.lch. n Xew
J.) widow, who asserts he:
through n fake wedding cerciuoli
her, denies all her charges. i
Mrs. Grulth testilled the 'f
made ardent love to her. Tl"'t
swore she made the snme bi?
love to him, unsought. She sit
believed he was single. He n
she knew nil the time he was v',
ami "went up In the nlr"
threatened to leave her.
The "count" added that she f
Infatuuled with him on acco;
what he admitted to be his
looks;" that she gave hlin IV
cuts, In ninounts of JUKI to i
i week, the money he Is alleged f:
Maken from her; that she invit' ;
to Newark and offered lb Flart
business and threatened him v
refused. r
MAN MISSING MANY V;
President Wilson and Mme. Tolncare, wife of the French president head
ing a procession leaving the railway station at Fnrls. President Poincare la
tliowu Detuna President YUIson with Mrs. Wilson.
only
he stuck by his gun, ar.d it wns
when ordered to the rear by his com
manding officer that he finally retired.
'He was an Inspiring example to his
men." according to memoranda in con-'
nection with his being awarded the
distinguished service cross.
His mother is Mrs. Jane A. Wilson,
wno lives at Xo. Dash wood street.
Revere, Mass.
it-re the or I r,.u.
;u Orel 1 ,. .1 1
- ".tj uk nan '
'X h.
I r"ir,s armies have
forth are hned n';-h
American douehl.-.;
shelter caves tiny a-e ,
with bayonets i;r.l ,;,.., j.
which provide sre-h i,u,
ag-alnst shrapnel. Kv.t.iv.)., n
belt of terrain niai-king n,e
limits of the pass.-.-.- of ihe
irwys mere are ei:ll s r-iw f tli. M
fox holes dug Into the ditches beside
' !re
i ' tia.,
! r
fs ;,iel
!iel.er
ill the
Mreij!,-ti.hlin
' arrival
Lnj'rn.
ler.n
lb-
iitini
lit-rv
Su.-iim oi the
Saginaw, Ml.-h..
'eutly from
wnnn was
in Thou. as
i r:irea nt
in Xeiv York r-
Omplaifl S
ioe t-rnguistie(j service
: .v.t-w.t.iinary heroism in
- - .M true ami Vesle rivers
- -he M-.t too weeks in August.
. - n in,- r-.,iit line trenches
rei-inu' t.i si,-k and wounded
,le occasion went
ad-sol-
over
the too iDfi yanls under heavy nre to
.ue iu wounoed doughboys.
j Found Wandering. About Bostor
tim of Aphasia, H Is Idenr
by Family.
I'oston. An aged man wa?; .
wandering In the South end il .
He wns n victim of iiphnsi'i- Ilf
lug or pockets hml nothing bl
the idetitlflcatlon. Newstapi't
Ilshetl n description of the if
his .photograph. After three
was restored to virtually nor:'
ditloii. but wns unable to tell
pltal physicians his name or t
Mrs. J, II. Ilorofsky of Easti'
saw the description In the lit y
went to the hospital and blent
man ns her father, for lion)
her family had been seurch;
years.
i
in
mc
Eh
A.